Christmas in Family
by Angel Luckovich
Summary: Atsushi's family won't make it on time to celebrate Christmas together, but En is always there to share special days with him..


Ok, this was written for the Boueibu Advent Calendar, and it was my first entry for it a week ago, but I forgot to upload it here =p... It's an EnAtsu story, hope you enjoy it.

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 **Christmas in Family**

It is weird for En to wake up without Atsushi's help, even if it is a holiday. He was sure that his friend was going to come today, so both of them could go to the airport and pick Atsushi's family up. However, it is noon and En is just waking up by himself. Simply weird.

He goes downstairs and the view is weird as well, his mom is the one making breakfast for him, that hasn't happened in a long time. Although, considering the day, it can be said that is normal.

"Mom, did Atsushi come and I didn't wake up?" En asks his mom.

"Good morning to you too, honey!" after En mumbles a quite good morning his mother continues, "Actually he called early in the morning, he said that the flight was cancelled because of the weather, so there was no need to go to the airport."

Mrs. Yufuin explains and his son, who is still waking up, seems to be processing the information he receives. For a couple of minutes En just stares at his breakfast and the rest of the food his mother is cooking, probably for the party they are having today, and then he reacts.

"What time did he call?" En continues asking while he starts eating.

"Probably at nine, I was half asleep when I answered the phone" his mother replies, "Are you going to his place?"

"I think so," En replies and then drinks some milk.

"Then get ready and hurry up, bring Atsushi to the party, that poor boy can't stay alone at home for a day like today!" En's mother exclaims and starts poking his son so he can at least try to hurry up.

"Are we still having that party?" the discomfort in En's voice is evident.

"Yes, you know your father loves this kind of weird and unusual stuff just like you do, now go to Atsushi's place and bring him with you!"

"Yes, yes ma'am"

Sometimes En wishes her mom could be all the time the relax woman she is, but whenever it comes to a celebration or if something is going to happen, his mom transforms into a regular woman. According to En's point of view. After being practically kicked out of his home by his mom, En starts slowly walking to Atsushi's place. It's not that he didn't want to see his friends, he normally walks slowly and well, there's also that stuff going on and on in his mind.

How should he tell him?

When December came in, En thought that during Christmas Eve would be nice, but when Atsushi told him that his parents and sister were organizing some kind of family dinner, En knew that Christmas Eve was totally out of the plan. That until today, just in Christmas Eve. Even if he wanted, he knows he does not have an idea on how to say it, just perfect for someone who keeps procrastinating in every single thing he does.

He knows he's getting closer to Atsushi's place, the houses are getting bigger and all the environment is fancier than in his neighborhood. He stops for a moment, is this the best date to make his move? Besides, Atsushi got some bad news today, En knows that the blue haired boy was pretty excited to have some family moments today and that was suddenly cancelled. Maybe, he should wait, he is well-known for pushing away responsibilities, so why not this?

As he thinks if he should go or just say to his mom that Atsushi wasn't home, someone grabs his left shoulder. En turns around just to be greeted by the bespectacled boy.

"Hi, En!" Atsushi greets him, smile on his face and hiding all trace of disappointment that he can have at the moment.

"Hi… mom told me what happened, wanna go to my place?"

"Well, I was planning to get home and cook my dinner for today" Atsushi says showing the bags he is carrying.

En puffs his cheeks and let out a "tsk" sound, is Atsushi being serious? En just rolls his eyes and shrugs.

"You think I'm really gonna leave you alone in Christmas, c'mon, move" En says grabbing Atsushi's arm.

"Wait, wait, your family has a party today, I wouldn't like to intrude" the blue haired boy says while trying to stop the older, with no success, En has been always stronger, even if he is lazier, than Atsushi.

"It doesn't matter, plus you are part of the family as well," the words slip from En's mouth before he can even think about the consequences, he feels Atsushi tenses a little, but almost immediately he relaxes.

"Ok, I'll go, but would you let me go and leave this at my place?" the smaller one asks with a shy smile, En cannot belive how cute Atsushi looks and just nods.

"Sure and you can get also some clothes, you'll spend the night at my house" En says again before he can even think about the words, but good for him, he does have a nice excuse for that, "part of my dad's crazy ideas for this Christmas, anyone who gets in the house has to sleep there."

"I see, well it will be as if we were working on a school project," Atsushi replies and turns around to go to his house.

En turns around as well, he feels his cheeks are going to burn, but try to cool off as soon as he relaxes a little. He follows Atsushi, and after some minutes they get to Atsushi's house, En takes off his coat and gloves since is evident that the heating does not allow the cold to get inside the house, he will not need them here. Then, he sits in the living room and waits for Atsushi. Whenever he comes to this place he wonders how it is possible that they are friends. Their lifestyles are so different, and let's not talk about their families, completely opposite in every single thing. Well, if he has to be honest, he is just glad that those differences didn't interfere in their relationship… as friends.

It's kind of weird, En has been in Atsushi's home a lot of times, but now he feels curious and starts looking around. It is obvious that the few decorations Atsushi placed around the house gives a different feeling to the house and after looking at the Christmas tree he notices that there's one extra gift. There are four and Atsushi's family has a total of four people, so if those are Atsushi's gifts for his family, there's one extra gift.

Shit! Does it mean that Atsushi got him a gift?

If it is like that, he's a lost case, he never thought on buying something to Atsushi, he just thought that they were going to see each other and go to the airport and then they would have said good bye to each other. However, things have changed, drastically changed. For the first time in his whole life En Yufuin is panicking, what is he even going to say to Atsushi when he has to admit that he does not have a present? When he was about to run away and go downtown to buy a last minute present, he got a text from his mother.

*Mom: Honey, I'm sure you forgot Atsu's present, as you always do for sleeping all day long, so don't worry I got him something, you own me a big one this time*

En couldn't feel angry for his mom requesting a pay back, actually if she hasn't requested one he would have given her one.

*Thank you so much, you're the best mom*

He is sure is mother is gonna make fun of him at some moment, but he couldn't care less, he has a present for Atsushi and that's all that matter. After a couple of minutes, Atsushi finally comes down the stairs, he is carrying a backpack and has his cellphone on his hand.

"Sorry I was texting my parents and sister, in case they come back tomorrow I don't want them to worry about me if they don't find me here" the boy specifies.

"It's ok, ready to go?" En asks standing up.

"Go ahead, I'll need to set up the alarm just in case" the bespectacled boy says and goes to the kitchen to set up the alarm and En leaves the house.

It is a fact that with every passing minute the streets are getting colder, he just hopes that his father's crazy ideas do not involve to go outside the house during the night. When he was starting to feel a little afraid of his father's ideas Atsushi comes out, he is now carrying another bag, maybe Atsushi wanted him out of the house to get the extra present from under the tree.

"I'm ready!" says the blue haired boy and they start walking.

The normal non-sense chatting takes place between the two of them and it feels just like any normal day. That's what he likes, the special rhythm that Atsushi gives to his life, even if all days are the same, it's a nice to know the companion and it's nice to feel this way. It's been difficult for En to place a name on this feeling, but when he finally discovered it, he knew there was no escape.

"So, all your family is coming?" Atsushi asks when they are reaching En's house.

"My two uncles, their wives and kids, and my grandma," En says, just the fact of thinking that his two cousins will be there gives him the creeps out "Thanks heavens my mom's relatives had a different plan for this Christmas."

"You're the oldest grandson, right?"

After the question, Atsushi just wants to bite his tongue, he knows how much En hates the word old, and all its derivations, as an adjective for him. The blue eyes just dismisses it, for today, there's no need to discuss about that, and he simply nods towards the question. They finally get to En place and from what they can see, En relatives are already there. They can hear laughter, kids yelling and a lot of steps around the house, En sighs, his worst nightmare has become real.

"Well, hope you don't mind the chaos," the dirty blond says while he opens the door.

"Not a problem, it's fine."

Once the door gets open, En's mom, grandma and his uncle's wives are there waiting, obviously the three unknown women to Atsushi are curious about him. En rolls his eyes, but at least he can be sure that with this he will pay much of his debt with his mother. There's an uncomfortable silence, the four women are staring at them, En looks at Atsushi who seems really embarrassed at the situation, and just for him, just for Atsushi, he is the one to make an effort to finish the uncomfortable environment.

"Hi mom, grandma, aunties, well since you don't know him," En says to his grandma and aunties, "He is Atsushi, we are friends, we go to school together."

En wishes that the introduction he did for Atsushi hadn't sounded so systematically, but it did. Thanks heaven that that moment didn't last long and his grandma and aunts go to greet the blue haired boy. En's mom gets closer to him and elbows him on the ribs while she smirks, yeah the "pay me back later" never comes late with his mother, and he knows she will be teasing him all day long.

"Honey, take Atsushi to your room so he can leave his stuff there and get ready, we are going to the hot spring" his mom specify.

"The hot springs?" the teenagers ask at the same time.

"Yeah, remember the order, Estonian, Norwegian, Ukrainian, English and German," En's father has come with his uncles and cousins, "So hurry up, we have a lot to do."

En grunts a little, but nods; he knows his father won't get angry for his reaction, but sometimes he wishes his father could understand that he does not like to do anything that requires an effort. Once they are at En's room he lays on the futon and sighs, he is thinking if getting Atsushi into this crazy Christmas party was a good idea.

"You have a nice family."

Atsushi exclaims sitting next to En, "You don't need to worry, ok?" for the first time in a really long time Atsushi seems to know what En is thinking, and the blue eyes cannot hide the fact that that makes him happy. En sighs once more, he really don't know what to say right now and if he could decide on what to do, he will just ask Atsushi to nap with him. However, he does not like to disappoint his father, so there's no escape, they will have to go.

"Besides, going to the hot spring is just normal for us, so let's enjoy it today as well," En does not know how, but Atsushi just gives him the perfect speech for finding the motivation he was lacking today more than any other day.

"Yeah, let's go then, hope my family knows how to behave, especially those two little brats," he says referring to his cousins and Atsushi just giggles.

Once all the member from the Yufuin family and Atsushi are ready, they go by foot to the hot spring. During their walk their talk is all about random facts and the weirdest things Atsushi has ever heard in his life, but at least he now knows from where En got that characteristic. Every time he does to En's place he only gets the chance to speak with En's mom, but he rarely has the chance to talk with Mr. Yufuin.

When they get to the hot springs, they get the change to say hi to Yumoto and wish him a merry Christmas, obviously the family chose En's favorite hot spring to make him feel a bit more motivated. At least, at the hot spring is as Atsushi said, just like any other day and they could feel relax, because thanks heaven there was a family room, so they separated from the family for a bit saying that they wanted to share a while with their junior.

Unfortunately, this part of the day did not lasted more than an hour, and after saying good bye to Yumoto and start their way back, they get to the Yufuin's household once again. The next tradition they are going to practice is the Norwegian tradition of hiding all the brooms in the household. En thought that would be easier until the moment his father shows up with ten brooms, one for each member, well almost for all.

"Me and Atsushi will hide it together," En says to stop the drama that was about to start.

"Great idea son! Now let's start," En could not believe how excited his father is for this kind of thing.

Since En likes things to go the easier way, he points to Atsushi to go upstairs, the blue haired boy smiles and follows him to his bedroom. The older opens his closet door and puts the broom inside of it.

"That will do it," En says and Atsushi giggles.

"Lazy as always, but I like it that way," the bespectacled boy says and turns red, En is also lost at the situation and thanks God En's father starts calling them out, probably the rest of the family has hidden the brooms and are ready to continue.

When they get down, all of the members are adorning the trees, with what looks like an artificial spider web. While they do that, En's father tells the Ukrainian story from which the tradition was born. When they are about to finish, Mr. Yufuin asks to go to the dining room while he places the last adorned that the kids will have to look tomorrow.

The dinner is actually pretty normal, for En's relief, there was just some few dishes that he knows are weird and probably part of some others traditions that his father read. However, it does not matter, as soon as he sees that Atsushi is smiling and talking with his family, En is happy, yeah this really looks like the perfect family reunion.

After two hours of eating, En thinks that everything is done and they can go back to his room, but he is wrong. His mother brings the last dish, rice pudding, she gives a portion to everyone and none of the guests hesitates, they all start eating.

Everything seems find, of course that until the moment that Atsushi stops chewing and looks at En as if something was completely wrong. En looks at Atsushi and both stare at each other trying to find what to do.

"Oh my, Atsu dear, did you get it?" En's mom asks, they both look confused to her, "The ring? Did you get it?"

Embarrassed of the fact that he will need to take something out of his mouth, Atsushi tries to turn towards En so he can understand that he needs someone to cover him while he looks for the ring. When En gets the message both of them lean a bit towards each other and Atsushi takes the ring, he does have it.

"Yes…" he whispered once he has been able to swallow.

"Oh dear lord, so our boy is getting marry next year!" En's father exclaims.

"What?!" the two teenagers scream at the same time and then En's father explanation comes, that was the English tradition they perform for this Christmas.

It is almost midnight when they go to the living room and the adults start discussing if they should give the presents today or tomorrow morning, but since the little ones are already sleep the answer is obvious, it will have to be tomorrow. Nonetheless, En's mom calls him before he retreats to his bedroom and gives him what she got for Atsushi, he kisses her on the cheek and wishes her good night.

He enters his room and sees that Atsushi is already taking out the extra futon he keeps in the back part of his closet. En places the bag his mom gives on the floor and goes to help Atsushi. Together they settle the room so both can have enough space to sleep.

"Thank you, En!" Atsushi shyly whispers once they are already laying on their respective futons.

"What for?" En asks, he is actually confused about that sudden behavior.

"For letting me be part of your family for today," the blue haired boy answers and smiles, he is really glad he didn't have to spend the whole day alone.

"Atsushi…" En calls, he sits and tries to get the courage he needs, probably it is nothing as he could have imagined before, but it's now or never.

"Yes, En?" the other continues, but keeps laying on.

"Do you like it? You know… being part of my family?" the tallest says and tries to shake away his shyness so he can takes Atsushi's hand.

"I like it," the other answer timidly.

"Would you like… I mean you already survived today… but… would like to be part of my family?"

'Way to go that must be the creepiest and weirdest way to propose to someone, good job En' it's what En thinks once the words have come out and there's no turning back, his heart is beating faster and he can feel his cheeks becoming a damn red traffic light. He waits for Atsushi's replies, and he is fearing the worst, if he creeps out Atsushi he might just destroy their relationship.

"I'm so…"

"I do…I mean, yes I would like to be part of your family, En," Atsushi says sitting up and almost screaming, he is too embarrassed to admit it out loud, but he will not miss his chance with En.

There's a pause, probably neither of them know how to continue after this, and En thanks the heavens that the lights are off, because even if he wants to see Atsushi's face, he knows he also must have an expression full of embarrassment. So, taking that as an advantage En moves towards Atsushi and carefully cups Atsushi's face into his hand. Feeling his heart beating faster he stops breathing for a moment, but moves forward.

First, En just brushes a little their lips and once he feels Atsushi agrees to keep going, he carefully links their lips together. It is their first kiss, gentle, lovely, and full of tenderness. Little by little both get braver and they concede to go further for a bit more with their kiss. It is heating up a bit, but before they could let themselves go beyond, they need to take a breath.

They look at each other, as small children who have just made a mischief that no one should ever know. Then, they smile and take each other hands.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Atsushi says and stands up, he takes the extra bag that En saw when they were coming to his place, "Merry Christmas, En!"

He says and gives the present to En, the taller one opens it carefully and sees that his gift is a blue blanket, a blue scarf and a new sketchbook.

"You do know me very well," En says a bit of guilt runs through him when he remembers that he didn't buy Atsushi's gift.

"I do," replies the bespectacled boy.

"I have something for you, but… being honest… I did not buy it. My mom did… she always think about everything, so I can give you that, or we can go tomorrow and I'll buy anything for you."

En didn't want to admit it, but he did not want to lie to Atsushi during their first day as a couple. Atsushi giggles, he thinks En looks cute when he is admitting what looks like a crime for him.

"It's fine, I like the fact that you are being honest," Atsushi says and waits for his gift.

En brings the bag that he left next to the door and gives it to Atsushi. The blue haired boy searched in the middle of the decorations for the content and finds the book he has been looking for all over the entire town.

"How did…?" Atsushi stumbles with his words and right there En remembers how much he bugged his mom so she could get her that single book from one of the bookstores she regularly visits when she's out of town. Definitely, En's debt is not over yet.

"Did you talk with your mom about this?" Atsushi asks when he has finally overcome his astoundment.

"Well, I did…" En simply replies, he has bared too much embarrassment tonight to tell Atsushi the whole story.

"Thank you, En," those sweet words get into En's heart and he cannot avoid smile kindly towards Atsushi, his boyfriend.

Without the ability and with no further restrictions, En cannot hold back and hugs Atsushi, he hugs him strongly, but carefully, he cannot believe that this moment is happening.

"Thank you for everything Atsushi, I promise I'll take care of you and I'll do anything for you."

His words are completely honest, he means every single one of them and Atsushi knows it, Atsushi knows, but he does not know how to reply, so he holds En stronger and gives small pecks to En's neck. They talk for a while, holding hands and getting used to this new emotion, this new phase that they have decided to start.

When it's almost 2 in the morning, they decide that is enough for the moment, even En has overcome his limit for non-sleeping hours, so it's better if they go to sleep now.

"Come here, we are a couple now and it's kind of cold" En says pointing to his futon and Atsushi gets a thousand shades of red all over his face.

"En!" he stammers, but looking at En's kind expression and taking that is actually pretty cold he just moves to En's futon.

"We can sleep as late as we want, besides I don't want to look for a pickle in the tree," the taller says and puts the blankets on them.

"A pickle?" Atsushi asks.

"German tradition" it's the answer that En's provide, "Merry Christmas Atsushi, I love you."

And after that, En falls asleep snuggling into Atsushi and holding him tenderly. Atsushi giggles, he is happy of how this Christmas turns to be. Now, taking advantage that En has fallen asleep, Atsushi kisses En's cheek and cuddles closer to En.

"Merry Christmas to you too En, love you too. "

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Thanks for reading!, the link for the Boueibu Advent Calendar and all the stories is here


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